The Nomads located along Telok Ayer Street serves modern Central Asian dining concept. The restaurant name represents the road less travelled; a reimagination of The Silk Road’s gastronomic trail. It is established by Shawn Kishore of Five Ten Holdings and Olzhas Zhiyenkulov, a Kazakhstan native. The dining area is complete with a custom-built grill pit, a speakeasy-style private dining room and thoughtfully crafted menus. The Nomads incorporating a unique spin to traditional dishes using familiar South-east Asian flavours which resulting three tasting menus (by reservations), exclusive private dining room communal menu and a la carte menu.
During the visit, I had the opportunity to check out The Odyssey of Fire Tasting Menu S$148.00++, which comprises of 17 courses. The highlights are the wide range of signatures and seasonal must-tries.Smoked Herring served with filo pastry filled with horseradish mash.Caviar & Kaya served in a Nonya-style pie tee shell with poached Argentinean prawns and crowned with glistening beads of Kristal caviar. It’s an eye-catching presentation and perfect balance of sweet and salty, Singaporean and Siberian.Lamb Samsa Cones filled with lamb tartare ( fresh Mottainai lamb short loin- considered the ‘wagyu’ of lamb) and handmade cone coated with coffee sugar to further accentuate the meat. It is a local favourite typically enjoyed in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Interesting as it’s my first time having rare lamb and it was tasty.Hunther-Gatherer’s Butter– traditional Kazakhstan-style bread that goes by many names such as patir or lepeshka, and symbolises the sanctity of breaking bread with friends and family. The Nomads uses a secret family recipe and served with a mix of seasonal dips- seaweed butter and an animal butter of the day (we had the foie gras butter). It is one of my favourite of the night. I finished up the whole bread all by myself.Maitake Mushroom seasoned with Khmeli Suneli spices and grilled with tahini and sesame seeds.Carrots in Soil served with charred heirloom carrots, caraway olive oil emulsion and the coffee crumble as the soil.Salat is an adaption of a grilled fruit salad in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Juicy pears glazed with cherry vinaigrette, seasonal greens and crystallised walnuts served with an anchovy sauce and before frozen raspberries are sprinkled on. It is a light, crisp and fresh dish.

Koji cured scallops with spiced burnt corn and crispy lentil crackers are surprisingly addictive. I wish I have more.Squid Laghman, traditionally a native noodle dish from Xinjiang Uyghur and The Nomads lightly grilled squid noodles with capsicum and pine nuts in a hearty bone marrow and Sichuan peppercorn sauce cooked with a master broth for added depth.Beshbarmak is presented with tender wagyu cheek in spiced broth, pickled shallots and garlic. It has the similarity of bak kut te h flavours. It is a modern version of Kazakhstan’s national dish and The Nomads replaces the noodles with dehydrated potato sheets.Sturgeon has a distinctive flavour and is grilled with soy butter emulsion and dill oil and complete with crunchy grains for the texture.Beef tongue braised for 48 hours served with burnt whole grain mustard cream, spiced beef jus, shaved almonds. Rich and creamy in flavour!

Then, we had Pomegranate and watermelon sorbet for palate cleanser.Foie Gras in Ash which a chunky foie gras coated with charred breadcrumbs with a side of cherry gastrique. It was soft, rich and buttery flavours with high fat content.Hunter Plov is a bowl full of A4 wagyu striploin, bone marrow and Carnaroli Risotto, using similar condiments as a Samarqand-style plov, pickled heirloom carrots, tea-braised quail eggs and brandied raisins. It gives different layers of taste sensation for each ingredient in this dish.

Finally, dessert we had Almaty, a dainty tart of smoked apple ribbons with dollops of Gorgonzola cheese and cinnamon yogurt and a scoop of celery sorbet.

Next dessert is Medovik , soft and fluffy honey cake paired with sour cream ganache, blood orange, rose crystals and yoghurt sorbet.By end of the meal, I am in food coma already. Despite each serving is rather like bite-size, it was very filling. It was quite an insightful dining experience here as this is my first time trying the cuisine along the Silk Road. There are so much to learn and each dish is crafted with full of dedication. Thank you for the wonderful experience The Nomads!
Diners can order beverage pairing menu priced at S$58.00/S$88.00++ that comes with an icy Raspberry and Jasmine Flower Vodka welcome drink, Chateau Musar wines from Lebanon, exclusively created cocktail and a choice of mead (an alcoholic beverage creadted by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains).

Travel Share

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